Korea University Guro Hospital (KUGH) said that its emergency medical system helped save a French national who was in critical condition.

According to the hospital, Daniel Napar, aged 66, was rushed to the hospital's emergency center after experiencing severe coughing, vomiting, and shortness of breath.

The faintly conscious patient experienced cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at the hospital, and the medical workers immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After four minutes of CPR, the heart started beating again, but his consciousness did not return.

The patient went into another cardiac arrest during the examination to find the cause of the cardiac arrest, and the emergency medical teams performed CPR once again and managed to start the heart again.

"As the patient was in Korea for a brief business trip, it was not easy to find the cause of cardiac arrest in the absence of medical records," the hospital said. "Our medical workers made appropriate situational judgments and actions based solely on the patient's condition."

After reviving the French man, the hospital staff moved him to an intensive care unit.

"This was possible as the KUGH was not just an ordinary general but a regional emergency medical center," the hospital said.

Mr. Napar's condition did not improve despite the use of a high blood pressure booster and a mechanical ventilation machine.

"The ICU unit consulted with a nephrologist and began a 24-hour renal replacement therapy," the hospital said. "Since there was no sign of improvement, the surgeon also applied extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, but the survival of the patient was still opaque."

KUGH's multidisciplinary intensive care system eventually managed to bring Napar back to life. His condition stabilized, and his blood pressure began to improve little by little, and the patient managed to regain his consciousness on the third day in the KUGH intensive care unit.

Within a week of hospitalization, the patient removed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and removed the mechanical ventilation system on the eighth day. The patient is now slowly recovering and is preparing to return to France.

"The most important thing in critical care is teamwork," Professor Lee Young-seok said. "Mr. Napar received quick CPR in the emergency room when the cardiac arrest occurred, and when he came to the intensive care unit, he was immediately put on continuous renal replacement therapy and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation."

If all of this had not been done at the same time, Mr. Nafar would have died, Lee added. He also stressed that the hospital would never forget the moment when Mr. Napar removed his ventilator and said: “thank you.”

Nafar also said, "It was fortunate that I came to this hospital at such a desperate time. All medical staff worked together perfectly based on state-of-the-art equipment and systems. Although I've traveled around the world, I've never seen a place with such a complete emergency medical system."

In Korea, 15 regional emergency medical centers are operating in nine metropolitan areas for optimal treatment of severe emergency patients.

KUGH is the only A-class emergency medical center in Seoul, with a multidisciplinary consultation system organized by several clinical departments.